Naruto Sensei
by lancecomwar
Summary: They were the most disjointed Squad in all of Konoha. Somehow, the most unlikely Sensei had to make them strong enough to face a very real threat.
1. Chapter 1

Oh hey, this story's back. I'm going to try and keep it updated and shit. you can guess what the basic premise is by the title, but be warned, I have a lot of ideas so don't expect it to just be a humorous thing. And it most certainly will not just follow canon, so yeah. Trying to be epic and shit here. Anyway. Read, now.

* * *

The sun was bright, its light peering into the classroom full of happy and young students. However, the only person in the room who took note of it had nowhere near a sunny disposition.

Hinata Hyuga's name might have meant "Facing the Sun", but that was nothing but a cruel irony. Her life had been nothing but sorrow after sorrow, disappointment after disappointment, a neverending stream of rain clouding down upon her mockery of a name. That is, except for a brief ray of sunshine that entered her life. A ray of sunshine that was now long gone. One which she had long ago lost hope would ever return.

"Alright, listen up!" their Academy Sensei, Iruka, called out. A few of the more quiet students, such as Hinata and the last Uchiha, were as calm as ever, if not attentive in the Uchiha's case, but the majority of the classroom was still as rambunctious as ever. A visible tick formed on Iruka's head as his students refused to listen to him.

"LISTEN UP!" he shouted even louder than before, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "You aren't kids any longer! Soon, you'll be Shinobi of the Leaf! Act like it!"

He gave himself a moment to calm down as the students sheepishly got into "learning" mode. After taking a deep breath, he began his lecture. "As you know, the Graduation Exam is next Friday. Once you all take it and pass it, you will all be assigned jounin senseis, who will further your training and take you out on real missions. Therefore, it is vital that you study everything that we have learned. Out on the field, you will have to have complete control of your regimen. I will not always be there to train you, nor will anyone else. As such, you will be doing all further studying and training for your exam by yourself. Any questions?"

As always, no one piped up. Iruka brushed away the thoughts of a wayward troublemaker and what he would have said were he still here.

"Dismissed."

With that, the students filed out of the classroom one by one, leaving their former sensei to his thoughts. And as it often did, his mind returned to a particular student from this very class from long ago.

'_Naruto… I wonder what you're up to now…?'_

* * *

Hinata thrust her hand forward as the Hyuga fighting style commanded her to do, but her opponent easily dodged it.

"Use force in your attacks! Harder! Stronger!" her father, clan head Hiashi, barked at her from the sidelines, the cold and almost uncaring nature of his voice causing shivers of fear and disappointment through her bones. Seeing his chance, Neji thrust his palm forward and easily sent her tumbling down to the ground. He had not even come close to breaking a sweat.

Hiashi shook his head as his daughter meekly got up. As both his daughter and his nephew turned to him with looks of fear and feigned indifference respectfully, he simply look at them with cold, passionless eyes. Without another word, he turned and left the dojo.

Hinata was almost ready to burst into tears, but she somehow managed to hold it together as her father left her alone with her cousin. She would not cry. She _could _not cry.

Neji turned to her, his eyes blazing with a deep, unspeakable hatred. Without a single word, and yet saying so much, he turned and left her alone.

No longer able to contain herself, Hinata ran to her room as fast as her legs could take her and cried.

* * *

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind, Kakashi?"

"... I'm sorry, did you say something?" the famous copy nin lazily replied.

The temperature in the room dropped a considerable amount as the Third Hokage's killing intent rose. A faintly visible ban of sweat formed on Kakashi's brow as he realized the mistake he just made. '_I should remember who I'm talking to...'_

"What I mean, Lord Hokage," he swiftly stated, his calm demeanor in no way betraying the sheer terror he was feeling at the moment, "is that I do not believe I am best suited for taking on a squad of genin, no matter what potential they possess. As you know, tensions with the Mist have intensified recently, and I, quite frankly, it is in the best interest of the village not to pull one of your best shinobi off of the active duty roster. … Not to toot my own horn, or anything."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, seeing the point the copy nin was making. Aside from his pupil Jiraiya, who was God knows where, and perhaps himself, even in his aged state, Kakashi was presently the strongest ninja swearing loyalty to the Leaf. He couldn't afford to sentence him to months of menial D rank missions. Not in this political climate.

"Be that as it may, it is vital that Sasuke learns how to control his power," Sarutobi said as if he wasn't conflicted on the matter himself. "Not only on how to control his sharingan, but also… The Uchiha curse."

Kakashi closed his visible eye as if he were mulling over what the leader of his village said. The Third Hokage simply waited patiently as he awaited his answer.

However, the answer would not be one he would have predicted in a million years

"If I may," Kakashi said finally as he opened his eye. "There is one other possible sensei for Sasuke…"

Hiruzen closed his eyes and sighed, knowing full well whom the copy ninja had in mind. "You don't mean…"

* * *

A few weeks later, after the graduation exams, Iruka looked over the papers detailing his former students' grades..

Sasuke had taken the spot as the Rookie of the Year, as pretty much everyone had expected. Of course, Iruka knew that, truly, that rank belonged to another ninja… But he put that thought away for now. Regardless, while Sasuke was the closest to being a ninja in terms of skills, he lacked the mental discipline to work with his peers, which would most certainly lead him to a dangerous demise. This lack of faith in his peers and blind ego would be something his new Sensei would have to work on with him.

This year had had many children of clan heads with much riding on their shoulders, and fortunately for them and their clans they had all passed with decent grades. Even Hinata Hyuga, who had started as one of the more talented kunoichi when school began before gradually getting worse and worse grades, had managed to pass. Of course, it _was _as the "dead last", but Iruka had quite frankly been worried about her failing his class. He could only hope that whomever her sensei was going to be, they could do a better job than he did. Sometimes, he cursed himself and constantly failing his students… But once again, he put that matter aside.

But of particular note to Iruka was that of Sakura Haruno. Whereas many of her peers were heirs to esteemed ninja clans, she herself was a simple daughter of a carpenter. Even so, her intellectual level was through the roof, pitting her as the top ninja in theoretical terms. Of course, theory was not always practical, and she seemed to have little in the ways of physical or emotional preparation for the life of a ninja, opting instead to glamourize life and fantasize about a certain someone. He felt she was in for a rude awakening when she began going out into the real world. Once again, this was something her Sensei would need to help you on.

Satifisied with their grades, he began looking over the document to see who the various Senseis would most of them, he simply made a note in his mind and went on. However, he immediately stopped in his tracks when he read who Team 7's Sensei would be.

"What in the world…"

* * *

Hinata sat quietly in the back of the classroom, trying to tune out the happy chatter around her. She tried to congratulate herself in having managed to at least get this far, but the fact it was only just barely gnawed at her mind and left her unable to take solace in it.

Her father barely reacted at all, as per usual. It used to be that he would have subjugated her to an intense sparring session when she brought home a bad grade, but those aches and pains she received were now a pleasant memory to the discarded and forgotten Hyuga. Aside from the occasional bout to prove her worthlessness, she was completely forgotten.

'_Maybe my new sensei will be able to help me...' _she futilely tried to comfort herself. Of course, she was very fond of Iruka-sensei, but he wasn't exactly the best ninja. Maybe a jounin would be able to help her? '_Oh, who am I kidding...'_

Iruka entered the classroom once again, and gave a final shout for attention. As if everyone had realized the weight of what they now were, they all paid close attention to him right away. Iruka let out a tiny smile. '_They can learn.'_

"My fellow shinobi," he began, startling a few of them in how he had essentially referred to them as his equals. "You begin a new age of your life today. Starting from this day on, you will be undergoing training unlike any you've underwent here. However, I believe you all are strong and carry the Will of Fire, and will be able to shoulder this burden. I may have no mo to teach you, but know this:I may no longer be your sensei, but you will always be my students."

A pleasant wave of satisfaction went through every students, and Iruka gave a small smile before going on. "Now, as you know, you will be assigned into teams of three under a Jounin Sensei. Your new Sensei will help mold you into the type of shinobi you wish to be. Your sensei and teammates have been specially selected by the Hokage to compliment your abilities. Learn from them, befriend them. They will be your family from now on."

A few girls visibly broke their moment of maturity to pass glances to the resident "prince" of the classroom, but Iruka simply moved on.

"Now, I will tell you what your team name is, so listen up."

The first few rounds went over fairly well. A few girls were upset they weren't with Sasuke, but for the most part they were reasonably content with the assignments. Hinata simply waited to see whom she would be paired with.

"Team Seven will consist of Sasuke Uchiha..."

Practically every girl's ears perked up at that, especially the ones who weren't called yet.

"Hinata Hyuga…"

Every girl turned to face the heiress, glaring daggers at her as the sole non-fangirl of the classroom tried to bury herself in her coat.

"And Sakura Haruno."

"YES!" Sakura shouted out, standing up in the middle of the classroom. However, a disapproving glare later and she meekly sat back down in her seat.

'_Great… The weakling and the fangirl,' _Sasuke brooded to himself. '_They will simply slow me down...'_

Iruka coughed to regain the attention of all the disappointed girls… and boy. "Your sensei will be… er, a surprise."

"What?!" Sakura shouted, having seemingly forgotten Iruka-sensei's earlier glare of disapproval. "What do you mean, a surprise? Everyone else heard their sensei's name!"

Iruka, however, simply rubbed the back of his head in an awkward manner. "Well… He kind of made me promise to let it be a surprise. Don't worry, you'll know him when you see him."

'_Hm… it must be a ninja of unparalleled caliber to be that mysterious…' _Sasuke brooded to himself. '_Must be a relatively high ANBU to warrant such a deception… Good, that will serve me well.'_

As everyone got back into the fold, some with dashed dreams, Iruka called out the remaining teams. Kiba groaned at being with the two creeps of the classroom, Shino and Sai, while they stayed as silent as ever, while the new InoShikaCho trio were reasonably content with their assignment, Ino having figured they were her best possible team, after Sasuke of course. Afterward, he gave them one last speech and dismissed them for lunch, telling them to return for their sensei's afterwards. He sighed and fell back in his chair as the last student left, before turning around to face an inconspicuous vent.

"You ready for this, kiddo?"

A grin popped through the vent. "Believe it."

* * *

As the students left the classroom for their lunch break, the various teams seemed to decide on their own to eat lunch with their respective teams. Every team, that is, except for Team 7.

"Hey Sasuke! Wait up!" Sakura yelled hopefully, completely leaving Hinata in the dust. Said brooding Uchiha seemed to twerk his ear in irritation, but otherwise did not alter his pace.

Sakura, however, was undeterred. "Say, Sasuke, I was thinking, since we were on the same team now, maybe we should… hehe… eat lunch together?" she asked hopefully, with what she hoped was her cutest face.

Sasuke would not know, however, as he did not turn to face her. Instead, he kept walking.

Sakura's lips began to quaver, but she still would not give up. This was True Love, after all! So she ran ahead in front of Sasuke, in an attempt to cut him off."So, Sasuke, would you-"

"Enough, Sakura," he growled, shocking her. "It is bad enough I have to be on the same team as you and that weakling, but to consistently be bothered by you like this? It… it's infuriating!" he snapped angrily at her.

Sakura's eyes began to wate, and through the pain, a faint trace inside of her recognized that this was the most Sasuke had ever said to her. "But I-"

"Shut up, Sakura. Leave me alone, and try not to be a burden." With that, he left the devastated fangirl standing alone in the hallway.

* * *

The students piled back into the classroom, Sakura moping after what Sasuke said to her during their lunch break, and sat back in their seats. They were surprised to see Iruka wasn't there, but within seconds several puffs of smoke as nine ninja appeared at the front of the classroom. They called out their teams and left, leaving Iruka alone with Team Seven.

Hinata sat quietly in her corner, looking out the window. '_Looks like the sun is out again,'_ she thought to herself dryly. She almost let out a chuckle.

Sakura, however, was in her own seat, lips quivering as she stared down at the table. '_Is what he said true…? Am I really… a burden? Can I… Should I… What am I…?'_

Sasuke continued to brood as per usual, his mind acing through thoughts on whom his teacher could be and just how much stronger they could make him. He let out a quiet smirk at the thought.

Iruka sighed. Thirty minutes late, and still no sign of him. '_It seems he picked up a few bad habits from Kakashi, after not that one...'_

"Sorry about this, guys, but I have an appointment to get to," Iruka said sheepishly. None of the three students seemed to respond, so lost in their own thoughts as they were. He frowned as he saw just how broken and disjointed Team 7 was, but unfortunately there wasn't much he could do about that. Sighing, and praying for a miracle, he packed up his bags and officially departed as their Sensei.

The three Genins in training sat in silence for ten minutes, none of them bothering to talk to one another. The silence could be cut with a knife.

"Man, you guys are boring!" an almost familiar voice echoed throughout the room, causing them all to look around. "I would have thought I could at least see how you guys interact, but you're not even making this fun for me!"

'_Is that… no… It can't be...' _Hinata's mind raced as she thought of something, anything, that could be the conclusion she came to.

Sasuke, meanwhile, simply stared straight ahead, disappointed in himself in not being able to sense that he was being watched. Yet also confused, as that voice sounded somewhat familiar…

"Wh-where are you?" Sakura verbally asked what the others were thinking, her mind racing through all of the possibilities. But none seemed likely. _Especially _the one that her mind first jumped to.

"Right here," the voice called, finally materializing in the room. All three student's mouths dropped, even if ever so slightly, at the arrival of someone they never thought they'd see again.

"Naruto?!" they all shouted, their voices ringing with complete disbelief.

"That's Naruto-sensei to you three," the former dead last smirked, looking down at his three former classmates who were now his squad.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh hi. New chapter already? Well, most of it was already done, so here it is. Whee!

* * *

The three newly christened Genin stared at their self proclaimed sensei with a mixture of shock, disbelief, utter confusion (and, in one case, a searing sensation in her chest of which she could not truly discern what it was). Sasuke and Sakura would have called bullshit, were it not for the fact that he was wearing a Jonin vest.

"... Well, you three sure are quiet," Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in an amused manner.

"What are you doing here?!" Sakura yelled, as if in defiance of his earlier proclamation.

Naruto simply chuckled. "Nice to see you too, Sakura," he shook his head a bit at the actions of his former crush. Sakura, for her part, was too bewildered to hit him, or even respond.

Instead, the three of them simply stood there in shock, so many questions running through their heads, yet none running through their mouths.

Naruto shook his head. "Training Field 16, ten minutes. Or else."

With that, he vanished in a flash of leaves, leaving his three supposed genin completely and utterly oblivious. For a second, they considered not listening to this absurd request, but they knew it would be unwise to ignore the wishes of someone wearing a Jonin vest. Thus, considering how long they had been waiting anyway, they all decided to do as he said and go to the training field.

… Though it would seem they would have some cargo, as Hinata just fainted.

* * *

Naruto waited patiently, hoping his new genins would not have inherited his own lateness. He still found it hard to believe he was already a Jonin sensei, and had his former classmates as students. And one of them was Sasuke, for pete's sake! He could only hope he could help him with his darkness… for his sake.

Finally, with nine minutes and forty two seconds on the clock, he saw his team walking toward him. Well, two of them were, as the Uchiha Heir was carrying the Hyuga heiress over his shoulder while muttering about "Useless women". Whether he meant the fainted girl he was carrying or the girl who was doing nothing to help him, Naruto could not say.

"Well, I see you're… er, all here…" Naruto declared, motioning toward the unconscious Hinata.

"Cut the crap, Naruto," Sasuke snapped,"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked aggressively, unceremoniously dropping Hinata to the ground.

However, before she could hit the ground, they found her being cradled by a pissed off looking Naruto. "Hey, don't treat your teammates like that!" he snapped, glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke and Sakura, however, simply stared at him in shock. "H-how did you…?" Sakura stuttered, completely floored by such speed.

"I'm a Jonin, remember?" Naruto reminded them, before gently placing Hinata on the ground. "Now, would you mind telling me why she's passed out?"

Upon hearing this, Sasuke once more began to shake in rage. Well, shook as much as he could. "What? Why don't you tell me why you've appeared all of a sudden? And why you're telling us that you're our Sensei?"

Naruto sighed. "Because I am your Sensei. And I'd appreciate it if you don't talk like that to me."

Sasuke grunted in frustration, a sensation that was quite unfamiliar to him. Sakura, meanwhile, did find it hard to believe that someone their age was their Sensei, and that it was Naruto to boot! However, she was pragmatic, and knew that it would be best to not anger their supposed Sensei.

"So, uh, Naruto… er, Sensei…" Sakura said, still finding it hard to say these words. "What exactly was it you planned for us to do…?"

Naruto smiled as he turned to his former crush, still carrying the unconscious Hinata in his arms. "Oh, I didn't expect you to come to terms with me being your Sensei so quickly."

Sakura gritted her teeth, as she had not in fact come to terms with this fact. She merely knew that she had no choice in the matter.

Regardless, Naruto continued on without waiting for her response. "For now, I suppose we just have to wait for your teammate to wake up."

Luckily for them, he began to feel her twitching in his arms. He looked down at her her, eagerly awaiting her awakening so they could finally get started.

It had been quite a while since Hinata had had one of her fainting episodes, and it took her a while to return to the land of the living. She found this to be hard, as pleasant dreams of Naruto finally returning and bringing some sun to her cold, depressing life filled her head… but she knew that this would have been just a dream. Just like all of the other ones. But this one was more cruel, as it had had him having achieved his dreams and being her Sensei. Truly a cruel and twisted dream.

However as she began to open her eyes, she stared into a pair of blue depth and a dreamy smile marked by unforgettable whisker marks…

In a flash almost invisible to him, Naruto found the girl in his arms leaped out of his arms and facing anywhere but his direction. He didn't see it, but he knew she was blushing heavily.

"Um… anyway…" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head confusedly. "Let's begin then."

Both Sasuke and Sakura awaited eagerly to see just what their supposed Sensei had to say, while Hinata was taking deep breaths a short distance away.

"Well… Okay, what should I do first…"

The two self aware genin to be would have faceplanted at this, were such a thing possible. Instead, they just stared at him incredulously.

"Haha, I'm only kidding," Naruto chuckled, before rubbing his hands together. "Okay! So, first up, introductions, introductions… Hey, Hinata! Get over here!"

Hinata eeped at the sound of her name, but she nonetheless found the courage to join the other preteens, red faced though she was. She stood a few feet away from the others as Naruto looked down- well, up- at his squad to be.

"Alright, so we are Team Seven," he declared. "So, as a team, I think it's important we get to know each other a bit better. "I'll start and give you an example. As you know, I am Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, training, and going on missions. Next, uh, you, Sasuke."

Sasuke flinched his eyes at Naruto's blatant refusal to account for the obvious. In anger, he decided to speak up. "Alright, Naruto," he said, crossing his arms in defiance. "If you really are supposed to be our Sensei, you're going to have to give us a good-"

He wasn't able to finish his statement, as he was sent flying faster than he could could see toward a tree. Sakura and Hinata gaped in shock, staring back and forth from Naruto to Sasuke, neither of them having been able to see Naruto move at all. Finally, Sakura realized what just happened, and ran racing toward Sasuke and shouting his name, having seemingly forgotten about her earlier predicament, at least for the moment.

Sasuke brushed her aside as he got back up, a look of annoyance on his face. Grunting, he walked back over to Naruto, Sakura right behind him. Despite his anger, he knew better than to argue against him again.

Sakura, however, had no such restraint. "Hey! What the hell! Why did you punch Sasuke out of nowhere like that!"

Naruto, however, simply looked nonchalant as he cleaned his ears with his pinkie. "Hey, he wanted a demonstration of why I'm your Sensei, and I gave it to him."

"B-but… to punch him out of nowhere…"

"Is nothing compared to what a real ninja has to face," Naruto stated blankly, before clapping his hands together. "Alright! So, back to introductions. Sasuke, if you would?"

Sasuke looked incredulously at him, still seething in embarrassment at that act of humiliation. Regardless, he took a moment to compose himself before deciding to answer. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I intend to be the best ninja I can be in order to achieve a very specific goal." He didn't seem interested in divulging more than that.

'_Oh, so cool!'_ Sakura squealed to herself, her fangirlish instincts coming to the forefront once more.

Naruto coughed. "Um, alright then. Sakura, you go."

Sakura was still fangirling over Sasuke, however, and Naruto saw he wouldn't get a sighed.

"Um, ok. Hinata, you go."

Hinata eeped at the mention of her name, blushing at her new Sensei as she struggled to think of words. "Well… I'm… Hinata… I… I want to… be the best ninja I can be…" She looked downcast as she found it impossible to say anything more.

Naruto shook his head. '_Sasuke's an emo wreck, Sakura's still a fangirl, and Hinata can barely string two words together. I really should fail them all on the spot… But I can't afford to fail Sasuke...'_

"Well, I guess that's it, then," Naruto said, clapping his hands together. "We are now officially Team Seven!"

Sakura raised her eyes in confusion. "Is that it? Shouldn't you… I don't know, test us or something?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, to be honest, there's no point testing you right now. All three of you obviously suck at being ninjas."

Hinata looked downcast at this statement, while Sasuke and Sakura were seething in rage. "What did you say?" Sakura snapped at him.

"Exactly what I said," Naruto shook his head, adopting a lecturing position. "Sakura, you have book smarts, no doubt about that. But honestly, that's the least important part of being a shinobi. It's what you can do on the field that's important. But then again, that's something we can work on. what's really a problem is your obsession with Sasuke. I'm going to tell you this right now: If you want to be a ninja, then you need to wake up, because this life isn't a fairy tale."

Sakura maintained her look of anger, but seemed to have calmed down a bit. It would seem that, at the very least, some of those words got through to her. Naruto allowed himself a moment of relief before moving on to Sasuke. "As for you, Sasuke. You push everyone else out and insist that you can do everything alone. I've seen first hand people dying because they won't accept their comrades help."

Sasuke seemed unmoved. '_Of course,' _Naruto sighed, before turning to face Hinata. "As for you, Hinata… You have issues with your self esteem. Doubting yourself on the battlefield is a mistake that can lead to death."

Hinata looked even more downcast at this statement, and Naruto frowned. He would really need to work on that with her.

"But, if that's how you feel," Sakura said in confusion. "Then why are you passing us?"

"Mostly cause I don't get a choice," Naruto said candidly, shrugging his shoulders. His students looked confused at this statement, but he didn't give him time to respond. "Alright, meet me here at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning!" With that, he vanished in a flash of leaves, leaving his students alone.

"Well, that was… interesting," Sakura commented dryly, still unsure that what had just transpired actually happened.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, before storming away. He had some _very _heavy brooding to do after today.

At ffirst, Sakura was about to run after him. However, what he said earlier that day made her reconsider. Her gaze shifted to her fellow female teammate and supposed dead weight. Maybe, if Naruto was their Sensei, then maybe…

She shook off that thought, before running home herself. She had some _very _serious thinking to do.

Hinata simply stared at the place where Naruto had vanished, still amazed at what had jsut happened. '_N-Naruto… I always knew you'd be a great ninja...'_ she thought, allowing the joy in him achieving his dream to brighten her mood. '_I'm so happy… I can see you again...' _Her face blushed bright red, as she fantasized about what might happen now that the sun had returned to her life.

* * *

Naruto stretched as he reentered his apartment, thinking back at the day. It was an odd day, but he honestly expected it to be. He was mostly just disappointed that, in the two years since he last saw them, their problems had simply multiplied.

After he reached into his refrigerator to pull out some milk, he closed it, only to find his silver haired guardian staring at him with his one visible eye, a smile visible even through his mask.

"You really unloaded a basket full of problems on me, Kakashi," Naruto chuckled, not even bothering to act surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Oh, they can't be that bad, can they?" Kakashi said, smiling at the boy.

Naruto shook his head as he poured himself a glass of milk. "Sasuke's a prick, Sakura's a fangirl, and Hinata's a nervous wreck. You really lucked out big time," he said, chuckling.

"Not really. I do have a reconnaissance mission to go on. Might run into some Mist Shinobi. Very dangerous," Kakashi said, as if it was just another day in the world. Which it was, really.

"Sounds fun," Naruto said, shaking his head.

Kakashi frowned a tad, not that Naruto could see. "I would have thought you'd be happy to be with kids your own age again. Besides, don't you have a crush on that Sakura girl, anyway?"

Naruto seemed to wince a bit. "Yeah, maybe before, but I'm past that. Besides," he said, with a hint of a smirk. "Training with two perverts has made me more… appreciative of the proper female figure."

"So you're saying she doesn't have big enough breasts for you," Kakashi said blankly.

Naruto sighed, not even bothering to argue. "A bit, I guess," he shrugged, finally taking a drink of his glass of milk. "Besides, they're my students now. Can't really form relationships with them, even if I wanted to."

"That may be true," Kakashi drolled on. "But you are their age,so it wouldn't really be that big a deal…"

Naruto rolled his eyes. Sometimes, there was no arguing with that man.

Seeing that interfering with the young man's love life wasn't going to happen, Kakashi decided to talk about the one person on his team Naruto would certainly ahve no interest in. "How about Sasuke? How's he doing?"

"Like I said, still a total prick," Naruto grunted. "Honestly, he shouldn't be a ninja. None of them should. But, whether I like it or not, I have to make sure I help Sasuke the best I can."

"Because the elders want you to?" Kakashi asked.

"No," Naruto vehemently denied. "Because I made a promise."

Nodding in approval, Kakashi turned around. "Well, it's been fun, but I best be off. That mission, remember."

Naruto nodded before finishing off his cup. "Take care, Cyclops."

"You too, whiskers," Kakashi nodded, before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto shook his head before going to grab a cup of instant ramen. '_Well, hopefully this team can at the very least improve… Guess I'l need to wait and see.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Oh man, this chapter was annoying to write. Mostly because I SUCK at fight scenes and power scaling. Which is a VERY bad thing for this type of story. Fun. Anyway, I think I'm going to finish work on one of my lemon commissions before I start chapter 4, so enjoy this. It'll have to sate you for a bit.

* * *

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently, glancing up at the sky as he awaited them.

'What the hell is taking them so long? It's been half an hour… Don't tell me I've got a trio of Kakashis on my hands?' He buried his face in his hands at the mere thought of such torture.

However, his ears soon perked up, as he sensed someone approaching. With footsteps that low and quiet, it could only be…

"Hinata!" he called, causing the girl coming out of the bushes to snap her head up and turn tomato red. '_What the… Er, nevermind.'_

"N-Naruto-Sensei…" she stuttered out, a whirlwind of emotions in her as she stared at her Sensei and idol.

Naruto raised his eyebrow. '_Still as weird as ever, I see...'_ he thought dryly. "Hinata, why are you so late?"

Hinata's face flushed brigt red at Naruto's question and gaze, and looked everywhere that wasn't at him. Which just so happened to alert her to the fact that her team mates weren't there yet, either. "Well… S-sakura and S-sasuke aren't here either…"

"Yeah, I was going to ask them the same thing when they got here," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Despite herself, Hinata could not help chuckling a bit at this action. Oh, how she had missed the little things Naruto did…

Naruto waved his hand in front of her face, but she did not seem to respond. He shook his head, sighing. "What a team…"

The two waited in relative silence for the missing two members of their squad. Neither said anything to the other, and it was another twenty minutes before Naruto noticed two pairs of footsteps coming their way.

"Sakura and Sasuke! You're late!" he glared at them, obviously trying to look intimidating. However, considering the fact he was their age, combined with their own biases towards him, it didn't really work that was indignant, not even bothering to respond. However, Sakura was more than willing to answer for the both of them.

"Well, Naruto-_sensei_," she said, trying her hardest to call him that without displaying her disbelef, but failing. "You were late yesterday, so…"

"I wasn't late yesterday, I was merely observing," Naruto said, crossing his arms as he stared down at the trio. "Regardless of that fact, I gave you a direct order to show up at seven, sharp. And you disobeyed that order."

Sakura had to fight back an angry retort. After all, her parents had given her the letter they had received yesterday detailing how it was official. Somehow, in the two years since he dropped out of the Academy, the former class clown had become a Jonin. And their Sensei. She was smart. She couldn't deny that basic fact.

Somehow, Naruto had exceeded her Sasuke.

Sasuke simply glared at Naruto, both in humiliation and jealousy. How was it that he could be that powerful? Why would the Hokage stick him in his care? He had spent the previous night trying to think of a way it wasn't possible, but he knew it had to be.

Naruto was stronger than him.

The three genin simply stared, each lost in their own respective thoughts. Naruto sighed.

'_Fuck you, Kakashi...'_

"Alright, listen up!" Naruto shouted, clapping his hands together. "Now, I figure that, before I get too deep into training, I need to know just where your abilities lie! So, you're all going to have a one on one spar with me. Now,I want all of you to know each other's skillsets as well, so pay close attention to each other's fight. With that said, Sasuke, if you would?"

Sasuke didn't verbally acknowledge his Sensei's request, but nevertheless walked out in front of him and got into his battle ready stance. Sakura was about to cheer him to "Kick his ass", but swiftly remembered what Sasuke had said to her before. Feeling down on herself, she held back her fangirlish plea, and simply walked out of the way with Hinata.

Naruto took a good look at Sasuke as he got into his own taijutsu stance. The traditional Uchiha battle stance, without any variation. Naruto had to resist shaking his head at his student's predictableness and adherence to clan doctrine.

"Alright… Begin." As soon as he said those words, Sasuke launched at him with his kunai in hand. He kicked at his blonde Sensei, who simply backflipped, but then followed through on his attack by throwing the kunai at him. Naruto simply grabbed the kunai as he was landing back on his feet and threw it toward a tree off in the distance. Without missing a beat, he slid down under Sasuke, to the brooding avenger's surprise. Before Sasuke could catch up to speed, Naruto twisted his legs clockwise, knocking the Uchiha down onto his rear.

Sasuke glared up at Naruto as his blonde Sensei stood up, rage building at his own failure. In a flash, he jumped back, before running through hand signs. "Fire Style- Fireball Jutsu!"

Naruto raised his eyebrow at this rather intense action. However, he fully panicked when he realized the target: not him, but rather the two bystanders.

Thinking quickly, Naruto ran through a few hand signs as quickly as he could. "Water Style- Tidal Wave!"

Sakura and Hinata were frozen in fear as they saw the gigantic fireball approaching, so much so that Sakura was unable to process that it was Sasuke who attacked her. Before the fireball reached them and sent them to their maker, however, a giant wave of water washed over them, soaking them to the bone.

Naruto panted, not used to using Water Style. He was so distracted, he barely had time to duck as Sasuke launched a kick at him, As he did so, he launched his fist up, and connected it with Sasuke's future children.

Sasuke's eyes bulged at the hit, and he fell down and hit the ground a few feet away, writhing in pain. Naruto walked on over and glared down at him.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said, glaring down at his student. Sasuke merely glared down at the earth, more concerned .with how Naruto had showed him up more than with anything else. Naruto frowned. '_He really is messed up...'_

Sakura was conflicted. On one hand, she was now soaking wet, no thanks to her Sensei… But on the other, more pressing matter, her Sasuke had just tried to _kill _her. She wasn't dumb, she knew Naruto had just saved her life, even if he had to soak her to the bone to do so.

Hinata shivered, clutching her jacket in both fear and coldness. She had never come so close to death before, not even in all of her spars with her clan never really liked Sasuke, certainly not as much as the other girls, but she never thought he would attempt to kill her just to catch his opponent off guard. And in a spar, no less!

Naruto sighed as he looked down at Sasuke. "You shouldn't have done that, Sasuke."

The brooding avenger scowled back at him. "Oh? Wouldn't you have saved them, anyway?"

"Well, that's true, but…"

"Besides, a ninja has to win no matter what. Surely a jonin such as yourself would understand that?" Sasuke all but spat out.

Without even thinking it over, Naruto kicked his student square in the jaw. Sasuke kneeled back before grabbing his aching jaw, glaring back at his Sensei.

"No, Sasuke," Naruto said lowly, filling the boy with killing intent. "Leaf Shinobi never turn their back on their comrades for their own selfish interests. Those who do so… wind up like your brother, Itachi."

A cool air pervaded the field. Sasuke's eyes snapped up to Naruto's with a vengeful anger. "I am nothing like Itachi!"

"Sacrificing your comrades in order to test your own skill? Yeah, sounds nothing at all similar," Naruto commented dryly. Turning around and leaving Sasuke to his thoughts, he faced his two other students. To none of his surprise, they were both scared shitless.

Naruto sighed. '_Guess I can't blame them, but they'll be a wreck if they go out on the field like this… And I definitely can't continue their training now.'_ "Alright, girls, listen up!" he shouted, gaining both of their attention. "After that… incident, I think it best if we take a break for a bit. Go take a walk and clear your head or something."

Sakura took a long glance over to her crush. Part of her wanted to run over to him, to make sure he was okay. But then, she remembered how he had nearly killed her just to get Naruto to drop his guard… Sure, he may have expected Naruto to save them, but even still… She turned around and walked off into the woods. She had some heavy thinking to do.

Hinata was relieved that she wouldn't have to fight Naruto now and embarrass herself, but she did not really have any place else to go. She could take a walk like he said… but really, being near Naruto was more than enough to help her get over that.

"Hinata?" Naruto called, tilting his head inquisitively at her.

'_So cute,' _Hinata thought absentmindedly, feeling the heat rush up to her face. Within seconds, it had gotten to be too much, and she began to feel the heat rush out of her brain. '_Oh, no...'_

Naruto had grabbed her in a flash, cradling her unconscious body in his arms. He shook his head. '_What a team…'_

* * *

It was about an hour later when the team reconvened. Sakura and Hinata were standing in front of their Sensei, both looking a bit under the weather but still much better than they were before. Sasuke was sitting off under a tree, averting his gaze from the others. No one else in Team Seven had any idea what he might have been thinking just then.

Naruto looked at Sakura and Hinata, back in "Sensei mode". "Alright, you two," he said, crossing his arms. "Don't think you got out of your spar just like that. I'm still going to need to test your skills. Hinata, you're up."

Hinata eeped. Her body shook at the prospect of fighting Naruto, but she nevertheless stood right in front of him and got into the traditional Hyuga fighting style, the Gentle Fist.

Her blonde Sensei frowned as he saw her posture. Flimsy, uncertain of herself… The Hyuga were well known for being like steel, stoic and unmoving. Their fighting style reflected that. On Hinata, who was like glass, fragile and delicate, that fighting style did not really fit. Naruto made a mental note to talk to her about that later.

"Alright… begin!" Unlike Sasuke, Hinata stood back, choosing not to rush straight in to attack Naruto. However, it was not because she was trying to observe the situation against an obviously stronger opponent, which would have been good in Naruto's eyes, but rather because she was frozen in fear. Naruto frowned. He knew she constantly trained with her clan members, and even if she didn't do well with them, surely she would be able to at least stand in a fight? Whatever was wrong with her, it was worse than he thought.

Naruto made the first move, rushing straight forward and striking at Hinata. He knew the Hyuga focused almost entirely on taijutsu, so he figured it would be best to test that out first hand. What he saw did not please him.

Her movements were sloppy, her blows lacking. He could easily dodge each and every attack she threw, and he he did not think him being a jonin had anything to do with it. She seemed to second guess each attack she threw out, and even stopped her fist when she felt as if the blow was about to connect. '_She can't bring herself to hit me,' _Naruto realized sadly.

"Okay, that's enough," Naruto said finally, deciding to end the poor girl's embarrassment. Hinata simply looked down, a forlorn look on her face.

She eeped once she felt Naruto's warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. "Listen, Hinata," he said, trying to comfort her. "You're obviously a gentle soul. I know that violence isn't in your nature, but you have to know when a good time to strike is. It can mean the difference between life and death for you… or your loved ones."

Hinata looked down, obviously having already known about this. Naruto tapped his foot, and rubbed his chin trying to think of another way he could help her. Unfortunately, the only thing he could think of was helping her get past her crippling shyness and insecurities… and he was not sure he could really do that. Really, he had no idea what he could do with any of his students.

'_Just what have I gotten myself into...' _he mentally sighed.

"Alright, Sakura! your turn," he called out to his former crush, startling her.

Hinata went back over to the sidelines, looking dejectedly at the ground, while Sakura nervously stood in front of Naruto. She had never been good at fighting back in the academy, having leaned more toward the theoretical side of the ninja equation. She could barely hold her own against the other Academy students, how could she possibly hold up to a jonin- even if it was Naruto?

She sighed to herself, trying to comfort herself with that knowledge. '_It's only Naruto, you don't need to be afraid...'_

Naruto smiled a bit as he saw her try to steel herself for the upcoming battle. They got in their battle stances, Sakura sticking to the standard one they taught in the Academy, Naruto noticed. He'd need to talk to her about that.

"Alright… begin!" Unlike with Hinata, Sakura rushed straight in, throwing a punch at her Sensei. One which he easily dodged, before parrying the attack and knocking the pinkette down on the ground.

'_What- so fast!'_ Sakura thought to herself, staring at her Sensei with a mixture of fear and awe. Not fear of her sensei per say, but fear that he might kick her ass in more ways than she could , she got back up, and tried to attack him once again.

Naruto easily dodged her attacks, of course, but made a mental note of them. '_Her attacks lack force. Even if she managed to hit me, she wouldn't be able to do much damage. I know for a fact she's stronger than this. I should know, I'm the one who always used to get her… angry...'_

"Hey, Sakura!" he called out, confusing his opponent. "What say we go out on a date after this?"

You could hear a pin drop in the field. Hinata felt like she was going to faint, and even Sasuke took a moment from his brooding to raise an eyebrow in surprise. As for Sakura… well…

"N-Naruto…" she murmured, pounding her fist into her palm.

"YOU IDIOT!" With that, she let her fist fly loose, hitting Naruto right in the gut- causing him to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" Sakura said, shocked out of her anger.

'_A shadow clone?!'_ Sasuke thought angrily.

"Man oh man, I definitely do not want to be on the receiving end of that," Naruto said, from a safe distance away. All three of his students turned to face him.

'_Body Flicker? Or was it Substitution? But when did he...'_ Sasuke pondered, mentally going through all of the possibilities.

"No offense, Sakura, but you're not my type," Naruto chuckled as he approached his student again.

"What? But then, why did you…"

"You're really strong, when you want to be," Naruto acknowledged, nodding in appreciation at his student. "The problem is that it seems it only ever comes out when you're angry. So, I guess we're going to need to channel your anger."

Sakura looked curiously at him. '_Channel… my anger?'_

"Alright, then! I think I've got enough to work with for tonight," Naruto said, clapping his hands together. "I want you all to think about what I've taught you today, and come back here at seven tomorrow- _on time_, mind you- in order to continue our training. Team Seven, dismissed."

With that, he vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving three very confused and disjointed genin behind.


End file.
